Saudi consulate cautions citizens in Florida as Idalia strengthens to a hurricane

Tropical Storm Idalia strengthened as it neared Cuba and the abnormally hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, with forecasters predicting it could become a major hurricane before roaring ashore in Florida this week. (AFP)
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Updated 29 August 2023
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Saudi consulate cautions citizens in Florida as Idalia strengthens to a hurricane

RIYADH: The Saudi Consulate in Houston, Texas, has warned Saudi citizens living in or visiting Florida to remain alert as Tropical Storm Idalia became a hurricane on Tuesday, intensifying on a path toward Florida’s Gulf coast.

The consulate urged citizens to follow the instructions issued by the local authorities. 

In a tweet, the embassy urged Saudis to contact it in case of emergency via the following numbers:  ‏ ‏281-917-8305, 281-889-0570

Idalia became a hurricane on Tuesday as it intensified on a path toward Florida’s Gulf coast, with the National Hurricane Center warning of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds in Florida in the next two days. 

Idalia would be the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and a big blow to the state, which is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ian almost a year ago.

(with AP)


Australia PM says ‘military assets’ deployed to Mideast

Updated 1 min 33 sec ago
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Australia PM says ‘military assets’ deployed to Mideast

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that “military assets” had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.
Countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from the Middle East this week after US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a regional war.
Albanese told the Australian parliament the government had sent six crisis response teams to the region.
“And we’ve already deployed military assets as part of our contingency planning earlier this week,” he said.
“I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians,” he added.
The Australian leader did not give further details about the nature of the assets, though local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.
AFP contacted Albanese’s office and the Australian defense ministry for further information.
Australia has said it has 115,000 citizens in the region.
New Zealand also ordered two military aircraft to the Middle East on Thursday in preparation for evacuations of its citizens from the region.